Canon Revolutionises the Colorado UVgel with Game-Changing Features at drupa 2024

PRESS ROOM

24 Jun

Written By Debbie Mckeegan

June 24, 2024 – At the 2024 edition of drupa, Canon unveiled groundbreaking features for the Colorado UVgel printer of the M series, launched last year.

This modular 1.6 m flexible media device now boasts optional white UVgel ink and a suite of enhancements aimed at both new and existing customers, expanding its capabilities to include new applications and market segments such as packaging and industrial printing.

One standout feature is FLXture, a five-layer ink printing technology that adds microtexture to large format prints, allowing for intricate surface details that mimic materials like wood and leather.

This innovation enables subtle textures, elegant embossing, and enhanced image highlights on various products, from packaging to labels.

Available for both new devices and existing units, FLXture is integrated into the latest versions of the Colorado printer and PRISMAguide XL software.

UVgel Packaging Factory

Canon also introduced the UVgel Packaging Factory, designed for businesses seeking an economical alternative to outsourcing short-run printed packaging.

This feature allows users to produce custom printed sheets of liner material for lamination onto corrugated board bases. It opens the door to on-demand digital printing for sectors with high potential, such as retail and consumer goods.

The UVgel Packaging Factory system includes a Colorado M5W flexible support printer, Fotoba Jumbo roll feeder, and an output slitting and stacking unit. It handles Jumbo rolls up to 2,000 meters in length, delivering high-quality, instantly dry, and scratch-resistant sheets at speeds up to 159 m²/h.

The system's high level of automation ensures efficient, unsupervised printing.

Enhanced Design Creativity and Automation

The Colorado M Series FLXfinish option adds further design creativity, enabling matte, gloss, or mixed effects without additional varnish.

This feature allows digitally pre-printed sheets to be handled using traditional lithographic lamination processes.

Additionally, the new advanced Jumbo Roll Interface Kit option increases productivity by reducing coil changes on longer jobs, accommodating all types of media, including transparent, structured, metallic, and dark-colored substrates.

Industrial Printing Applications

The capabilities of the Colorado M Series extend to industrial printing, specifically for graphic overlays used in membrane switches.

UVgel technology stands out for its robustness, often eliminating the need for lamination, and for its precise elasticity, ensuring flexibility without cracking.

Canon's Commitment to Innovation and Customer Success

Mathew Faulkner, Director of Marketing & Innovation, Wide Format Printing Group, Canon EMEA, stated, "With the unique benefits of Canon UVgel technology, the Colorado was designed from the beginning to offer the optimal combination of quality, productivity, automation, range of applications, operational cost, and sustainability. The success achieved by this system has demonstrated the enormous effectiveness of this sum of advantages and, together with customer feedback, has inspired us when developing the modular M series of the Colorado."

Faulkner added, "Now, leveraging the advantages of UVgel technology and the modularity of the M series, we announce new advancements focusing on application diversification and automation. Thanks to continuous technological developments and our strategy and commitment to customer-oriented innovation, we manage to introduce innovations that provide our customers with competitive advantages, increasing their capabilities and helping them exploit new creative and profitable applications, products, and markets, such as packaging and industrial printing. We firmly believe that this long-term strategy focused on modularity and versatility will represent a qualitative leap in the way we produce large format graphics and other applications."

Showcasing at drupa 2024

The Colorado M5W, featuring the new FLXture technology, and the UVgel Packaging Factory solution were showcased at Canon’s stand in Hall 8a at drupa 2024.

In collaboration with partners Fotoba (Hall 9) and Lamina (Hall 12), Canon demonstrated the complete process from printing to laminating and cutting into final packaging applications using Zünd cutting table systems.